‘We have a voice.’ Local students join Florida protests against ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Students at Manatee School for the Arts joined a statewide protest pushing back against the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation making its way through the Florida Legislature.
The bill, which aims to limit the discussion of sexuality and gender identity in public schools, has been met with fierce opposition from LGBTQ advocacy groups. Hundreds of students participated in the planned walkout at the charter school in Palmetto.
“This is a serious issue. We need our voices to be heard,” said Alexandro Jimenez, an 11th-grader at Manatee School for the Arts. “We need people to know that we are not going to stay quiet. We have a voice for a reason.”
In video footage of the demonstration, students are seen packed into the courtyard. Several students held a banner encouraging students, teachers and administrations officials to “say gay.”
The Trevor Project, a nationwide organization that aims to reduce suicide among LGBTQ youth, has also weighed in on the proposed legislation, arguing that the legislation would “erase” representation from public classrooms.
“LGBTQ students and families deserve to see themselves reflected in the classroom. What they don’t deserve is stigma and censorship from the government. Removing LGBTQ people and topics from public schools will only work to further shame a group of young people who already face disproportionate rates of discrimination, bullying and suicide attempts,” Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of The Trevor Project, said in a statement.
Supporters of the bill have said that parents should have a say about what their kids are learning in school. The “Don’t Say Gay” bill specifically limits sexuality and gender identity discussions from children between kindergarten and third grade.
“Creating boundaries at an early age of what is appropriate in our schools, when we are funding our schools, is not hate,” said state Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, NBC News reported. “It’s actually providing boundaries, and it’s fair to our teachers and our school districts to know what we expect.”
Caitlyn Traxler, an 11th-grade student at Manatee School for the Arts and vice president of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club, worries that the bill will do more harm than good, even when dealing with young children.
“When it comes to talking about sexuality in elementary school, you have to think about situations like show and tell,” Traxler explained. “Can you talk about your family in that setting if you have a gay relative? What about teachers? What if a guy is married to another guy? Is he allowed to have a picture of his husband on the desk? I think it’s necessary for development to have those questions and discussions.”
Students at Manatee School for the Arts earned permission from school administration to participate in Thursday’s walkout, joining dozens of other schools throughout the state using the hashtag #DSGwalkout.
At Braden River High School, a number of students were looking forward to demonstrating against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill at noon, but moments before the scheduled walkout, school leaders received word of “a serious threat” that needed to be investigated by law enforcement officials, said Kevin Chapman, the school district’s executive director of administration.
By 12:30 p.m., the police confirmed it was a false alarm, but students were still not expressly allowed to join the demonstration. Chapman said he wasn’t aware of any school in the district participating in the walkout.
Because Manatee School for the Arts is a charter school, it is not bound by certain school district rules.
Despite the false alarm and the threat of disciplinary action, at least 30 students chose to demonstrate at Braden River anyway.
“This bill stigmatizes the existence of the LGBTQ community and gender. Being gay doesn’t need a cure,” one Braden River student wrote in an email to the Bradenton Herald. “LGBTQ people and those who break the gender binary have a right to share their gender or sexuality with whoever they choose, and keep it from whoever they wouldn’t like to.”
Thursday’s demonstration is only part of the approach students are taking to let lawmakers know how they feel about the proposed legislation. Traxler said the Gay-Straight Alliance club at Manatee School for the Arts has already begun calling local representatives to urge them to vote against the bill.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 5:26 PM.
